After seeing a couple of posts here about Milk Thistle and Dandelion, I feel I MUST inform you that the effects of these two can be VERY dangerous.

First of all, "MILK THISTLE" is also known as "MILK WEED" in some regions of the country. The phytochemical it produces will build up in the blood and cause kidney failure as well as congestive heart failure and kill you. I have SEEN it happen, because the young plant favors a certain wild green that comes up in Spring, and one can be mistaken for another by the inexperienced or the vision-impaired. It is very ugly, and as far as I know, there is no antidote to this.

Also, Dandelion tea is generally made from the root- it used to be given to folks who were "puny" all the time- it increases the blood sugar. So if you must watch your blood sugar, you should not drink this tea. The leaves of the dandelion are edible- chock full of Vitamin C, and eaten in salads, or quiches, or cooked like spinach. The flowers are what we use to make wine, along with the root, to give it what it needs to be Dandelion Wine.

I am not here to knock ANYBODY, or their belief system, or judge, or anything else. I don't do that. I only mean to impart some of the knowledge I have learned from many many teachers over the years, in the hope of no harm coming to any one. Ever.

I appreciate you giving the flip side of this type of medication. Every kind of treatment can have side effects this is very very true! However, I feel I must stand up for my herbal remedies.

Milk Thistle and Milkweed are NOT the same thing.

"Milk thistle has been reported to have protective effects on the liver and to greatly improve its function. It is typically used to treat liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis (liver inflammation), and gallbladder disorders." (from Wikipedia)

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) has been used medicinally for over 2,000 years for the treatment of liver and gallbladder disorders. Milk thistle is believed to have a hepatoprotective effect, meaning simply that it protects the liver from damage. Milk thistleâ€™s hepatoprotective effect has been attributed to the antioxidant and free-radical scavenger properties of its flavonoid constituents, silymarin and silybin. Milk thistle is also believed to increase protein synthesis, decrease tumor-promoting activity, stabilize immunologic response, protect against cellular radiation damage and increase stability of cellular membranes. (myfit.ca)

Milkweed on the other hand is a different plant all together.

About Milkweed: "The plant's latex contains large quantities of glycosides, making the leaves and seed pods toxic for sheep and other large mammals, and potentially humans (though large quantities of the foul-tasting parts would need to be eaten). The young shoots, young leaves, flower buds and immature fruits are all edible, however it is important to make sure that they are thoroughly and completely cooked before eating them; otherwise they are still toxic." (wiki)

Therefore, you are right - Milkweed is not good for you - but Milkweed is NOT the same as Milk Thistle. It is an entirely different plant. If you google image the two plants, they look nothing alike as well.

Dandelion is known to keep the liver at peak efficiency.. and normalize blood sugar levels in diabetics WHEN USED PROPERLY.

"A daily tea of dandelion root, or eating the leaves, is recommended for anyone with liver complaints. It can be eaten regularly as a preventative, helping to keep the liver at peak efficiency." (herbsarespecial.com)

"Dandelion has been shown to help normalize blood sugar levels and it is beneficial to drink dandelion tea on a regular basis. Ingesting dandelion can improve lipid profiles, cholesterol and triglycerides in diabetic patients."(How to use dandelion to treat diabetes)

This information is readily available online. I simply went to google and typed in Milk Thistle and liver and the facts are plentiful supporting my belief that it cleanses the liver.

I went to see my opthamologist again this morning. I should say I have been drinking Milk Thistle tea everyday, and taking hares Ear Root, and refraining from starch and alcohol for the past week. My opthamologist was really impressed with my progress and I am down to one dilating drop a day to be stopped completely by Thursday.

He has also reduced my steriod drops from every hour to 4 times a day.

I feel that steriod drops and pupil dilating medications have far worse side effects. They can lead to glaucoma and cataracts. The dilating medication can cause your pupil to get 'stuck' open.

These are things no one wants.

I truley believe a more holistic remedy is the answer. If we can clean out our systems with these safe herbs, we can prevent our next flare-up as opposed to treating it once it's already arrived.

I respect everyone's beliefs and I truely understand and appreciate your view Mary:) Western medicine is important but so is Eastern medicine and alternative remedies.

The path I will continue to follow is the one which cleanses my liver. I am going to make sure my diet is rich with green leafy vegetables, carrots, no starch and no alcohol. My prevention routine will include Milk Thistle and dandelion teas because they are proven to cleanse the liver. Since the eyes are the window to the liver (which Western medicine recognizes), cleanse the liver, fix the eyes.

I may, perhaps, stand corrected. I whole heartedly believe in herbal and Holistic Remedies- I have used them all of my life, gleaning as much information as I could, and sometimes, even my own intuition, as I have posted before. If these remedies are helping, then they are helping, and that is really all there is to know. I just had a knee-jerk, I guess, because of that poisoning I saw. Really nasty stuf... But I digress. IF your Path is the right one for you, you will know, and none can change that. Please, don't believe I was trying to attack you- I only meant to do no harm, for that is my core belief- do no harm.

Mary,I truly wish that the Medical doctors would hold to the belief, Do no harm but that is no logner a requirement for them. less than 20% of US medical schools make their doctors take this oath. today it is all about making money.

as an aside, My daughter who is 38 years old went through a very traumatic car accident about 8 years or so ago. hospitalized for about 4 weeks requiring major reconstructive surgery to her left hand. at the time she was to be discharged, the tried to get her out of bed and found that she had a BROKEN NECK as well requiring more surgery. the trauma/stress messed up her body resulting in allot of problems. doctors treated her for 'urinary tract infections' that wouldn't go away. finally a doctor ordered some tests and found that she had interstitial cystits, an inflammatory/autoimmune Bladder condition. western medicine just threw somd drugs at it and she got no relief.finally she went to an ayurvedic doctor from India who prescribed a very difficult to follow diet, IT WORKED.getting married about 2 years ago she wanted to have a child but her hormone levels just could not be righted by western Medicine. so she decided to try a chinese herbalist and accupuncturist along with her GYN overseeing this. this combination finally allowed hormone levels to become elevated and she is now three months pregnant.this is what her GYN calls a 'miracle baby'.

my point is that my regimented western medicine view has changed dramatically because of my daughter's experience. I do worry about those who come here and want only 'eastern' medicine to treat their autoimmune disease but if they so choose, indicate what is known about various drug interactions or what can show that some things in the 'herbal' medicine world have to be followed closely with tests to make sure toxicityisn't occuring. most people forget that MANY of our very powerful drugs have come from various plants or animals and MANY have very serious consequences in their 'natural' component which can be intensified by 'purification' methods to find the compounds in them to make for our human consumption to treat disease.

All things ingested to treat us can be very dangerous if improperly used or used in conjunction with Western Drugs. we all have to make sure that we make our doctors aware of ANYTHING that we take because of this potential for serious adverse side effects. someone has to be designated to perform tests to make sure we are not slowly killing ourselves which is not the case with herbal medicine as they do not order blood tests to look for various organ problems from their use.

I know that you have made sure that you and your family are not compromising health with a sole look to 'natural' remedies for treatment.

Thank so much for your input to the forums here at Iritis.Org,

Wishing you the very best,Mike

PS: give us an update on your Mom and Dad too if you get a chance. they are in my thoughts and prayers. msb

You are dead on about the medications we take, and the herbs we may or may not use. For women having trouble concieving, we used to give a tea made of warm brown vinegar and honey to balance the acid levels in the body. Balance the acid, balance the body, and therefore, the hormones. It was to be drunk every evening, either with or directly after supper, just like coffee or black tea. I have rarely known it to fail.

Yes, I do use Western medicine, but I also use the home remedies of my growing up, when possible. ( I started to say, "youth" there, but then remembered I ain't that old! )

Mary

PS- Congratulations are in order, indeed, for your daughter. She will be in my thoughts and prayers.MJTB

Speaking of poisonous plants ... I recently discovered atropine is made from nightshade. I always feel sick and disoriented when on dilating drops. Perhaps this is why. Nightshade is deadly poisonous, and on top of that, I'm sensitive (slightly allergic) to all plants in the nightshade family.

We need the drops when we need them, but I now believe I know why they make me sick, while they don't make some other people sick.

Yes, Atropine is made from nightshade. Many psychotropic drugs are made from Mayapple (Mandrake to Shakespeare)root. There is so much natural medicine to be found in our forsets and feilds. It really sucks that the developers are deforesting our Earth. We need to be more proactive in our conservation efforts. We really do.